Burningstar, The Mercenaries' Guild
by 16Doobop13
Summary: Burningstar, a once great guild that brought about the Golden 5th Era, was destroyed by the 2nd Interregnum, which has been put on halt thanks to an armistice, but now is slowly being pieced back together to once again become a guild where people of all races and backgrounds can get along (for the most part anyway). No matter the job or pay, Burningstar will complete it with unity.


Burningstar!

Have You Heard The Legend?

Despite the door being unlocked, and even wedged open to let some air in and out of the inn, Yamur smashed the entire wooden plank with his ax.

Everyone in the inn turned and looked on in bewilderment as the strangest trio they had ever seen walked into the building.

"Where is he?" Yamur, a brutish Orc the size of a pro wrestler asked.

 _Status Center: Yamur gro-Gorth, Orsimer(Orc), 15 Years Old, Male. Class: Warrior, Likes: Money Dislikes: Mysteries, Quirk: Often Itchy._

Yamur rushed up to the barkeeper.

"Where...Is…He?" He asked, readying his ax.

"I...I don't know who you're talking about!" The barkeeper said nervously.

He backed up and bumped against something soft.

"Whoops…" A crouched down Aloiveli hummed as she looked up at the mortified barkeeper.

"I guess I'm not getting the key off of you this way anymore, huh?"

"Those pointy ears…" The barkeeper managed to say in a shaking voice.

"You like them?" Aloiveli brushed her wavy black hair back and held her pointy ear out clearly.

"They work pretty well too. I'm positive the he's here, Yamur, keep our new friend busy…"

She said as she contorted her way through the small space she had to get out from behind the counter and then made a huge leap onto one of the rafter beams.

 _Status Center: Aloiveli Gardayn, Dunmer(Dark Elf), 21 Years Old, Female, Class: Acrobat, Likes; Debate, Dislikes: The Cold, Quirk: Often Hums._

Aloiveli searched for the trio's target.

The bartender looked over to the third person.

Ellevhis was simply standing in the doorway.

She took off her hood to reveal herself to be a beautiful elf with long white hair and pale skin.

"Are you going to cause havoc in here too?" The barkeeper asked, exasperated.

"I'm not setting foot in _there_." Ellevhis said as she backed away a bit as though the barkeeper had just told her to perform some sexual task.

"It's so _filthy_ in there…"

Upon closer inspection, the barkeeper realized that Ellevhis was busy constantly casting some sort of magic spell on herself to keep herself clean.

 _Status Center: Ellevhis Ronesaroth, Snow Elf, 802 Years Old, Female, Class: Healer, Likes: History & The Arts, Dislikes: Getting Dirty, Quirk: Always has Perfect Posture_.

"Yamur, I think he's had quite enough time to answer if he knew anything." Ellevhis said, wanting nothing more than to find their target and be one with it.

"Hrm…" Yamur grunted before pushing the barkeeper back against the wall.

"A-ha!" Aloiveli said as she spotted the target.

"I _found_ him!"

She jumped down from the rafter beam and landed gracefully on her feet, before lunging towards a suit of armor standing completely still against the wall.

Aloiveli took off the helmet of the suit to reveal a human head, petrified with fear.

"A small space...and Aloiveli is the one who finds me first…" Hiephon said, worried.

"Please don't sexually harass me again…"

"Aw, Hiephy…" Aloiveli said as she began to caress Hiephon's face. "But I get such a big rise out of you...But I suppose…" She backed away and looked over.

"Yamur? You feel like carrying Hiephon out of here?"

"No." Yamur said quite bluntly, still eyeing the barkeeper.

Hiephon sighed and looked at Aloiveli with pleading eyes.

"I'm sowwy…" He said. "Pwease help me out of hewe,"

"Stop talking like an infant." Aloiveli hoisted Hiephon over her shoulder.

"Aggh...heavy…" She said. "Your armor is so...heavy…"

"Hiephon!" Ellevhis enthusiastically said as she saw Aloiveli struggle to carry Hiephon outside.

"Ellevhis!" Hiephon replied, just as enthusiastically, now somehow with enough strength to walk on his own.

 _Status Corner: Hiephon Sactti, Imperial, 21 Years Old, Male, Class: Knight, Likes; Traveling, Dislikes: Small Spaces(such as this inn), Quirk: Twiddles Small Objects_

As the human Knight and snow elf Healer began to talk with each other and leave the inn,

the bartender called to them.

"Hey wait! your Orc broke my door, he needs to-"

Yamur gave the barkeeper a glare.

"Here." He said as he put a pulsing red thing of some sort on the counter. "That will get you the money you need for the door." He scratched his chin and chest.

"Don't eat it though. It won't taste good."

"What is it?" The barkeeper asked.

"A Daedra Heart, of course." Aloiveli smirked as she also left the inn.

"Daedra Heart?" The barkeeper asked, astonished.

"Where the hell did you get this?"

"From a Daedra..." Yamur scratched his arm. "Where do you get _your_ Daedra Hearts?"

"I don't!" The barkeeper yelled. "No one does! I'm going to report you to the-"

"What was that?" Yamur gave the barkeeper a scary stare.

"N-nothing…" The barkeeper said.

"Have a nice day…"

"Wait!" The barkeeper yelled as he chased after the strange group of four.

"You just caused the biggest commotion my inn's seen in years! Who the hell do you think you are just walking away like that?"

The four of them looked at each other, all smiled, and then, unanimously, shouted back.

"Were mercenaries, from the guild known as Burningstar!"

Hiephon and Ellevhis both struck poses. "Formed from many, now as one."

Aloiveli and Yamur struck similar poses. "Unity brings strength."

Then all four of them pointed their respective weapons up at the sky.

"That is the Burningstar Motto!"

 _Have you heard the legend?_

 _Legend has it that there was once a great guild of mercenaries located southwest of the city of Whiterun, in Skyrim._

 _This guild was so great, that they had requests to join from mercenaries all over the entire continent of Tamriel._

 _It was a guild that had built a reputation for being the most dependable guild in existence. Once you submitted a job request to them, you were guaranteed results, no matter what the task, no matter what the pay was._

 _This guild singlehandedly brought the continent of Tamriel into a golden age, and that age became known as the Golden Era._

 _This guild's name...was Burningstar._

 _Of course, that all changed during the 2nd Interregnum, where once again, all the races fought for supremacy._

 _The Nords of Skyrim ended up hunting down members of all other races, specifically Elves, Orsimer included, Khajiit, and Argonians, but they swung their axes at the human races as well._

 _For Burningstar, this meant the forced resignation of the vast majority of their members, and the guild began to face bankruptcy and a forced shutdown._

 _Burningstar put up as much of a fight as it could against the 2nd Interregnum, trying in vain to bring peace to the warring provinces, but eventually fell in the complete chaos, and left nothing behind but a burned down shack that used to be the large guild hall's pantry._

 _Well, current rumor has it that there's someone back in that burned down building, a Nord by the name of Bedrig the Fearless, attempting to rebuild the guild that was known as Burningstar with members of all the races._

 _Imperial, Nord, Redguard, Bosmer, Khajiit, Dunmer, Breton, Orsimer, Altmer, Argonian, even a Snow Elf Holdout and a Dwemer Automaton, all on equal grounds with each other, working together as they once did so long ago._

 _The 2nd Interregnum is experiencing a time of relief thanks to the Anvil Armistice, where representatives from all the warring provinces met in the city of Anvil in Cyrodiil, the Imperial Province, and agreed to no longer attack each other in acts of war, for the sake of Tamriel itself and to insure that the land would remain habitable._

 _However, the war for supremacy is still ongoing, and various acts of violence and terrorism sprout up more often with each passing day, creating problems everywhere._

 _Rumor has it that the new Burningstar guild led by Bedrig plans to, one job at a time, prove that the races can coexist and get along._

 _Unfortunately, things are never as easily done as they are said, and this new Burningstar guild is a prime example._

 _But perhaps a smaller touch is necessary, in order to more finely tune the strings of the broken instrument of our continent._

Detelvin crumpled up the peace of paper he had been writing on.

"Nah…" He said as he threw it on the floor. "If I'm going to make a flyer, I'd at least want the flyer to make it sound like we're a guild that you _should_ join…"

 _Status Corner: Detelvin Dolrelle, Breton, 27 years old, Male, Class: Bard, Likes: Confident People, Dislikes: High Places, Quirk: Preens excessively_

"We're baaaack!" Aloiveli hummed as she waltzed into the small and burned down shed.

"Hey, _hey!_ " Ellevhis brought Aloiveli back. "Hold on." She said as she put her hands over Aloiveli's shoes, making them shine.

"You were almost about to track dirt throughout the entire shed…"

"You mean the shed with the _dirt_ floor?" Detelvin asked with a bit of a laugh as he combed his hair, using a nearby puddle from the rain the previous night as a reflection.

"A dirt floor of _historic_ _value_." Ellevhis said, crossing her arms.

"Welcome." Mchanac gave a mechanical bow to the four entering the ruined shed.

"Detelvin, Danilief, and Domasur are all home and awake."

 _Status Corner: Mchanac, Dwemer(Deep Elf) Automaton, ? Years Old, Self Professes that it is Male despite not having a sex, Class: None, Likes: Partying, Dislikes: Hard Work, Quirk: Never Satisfied_

"Hey scrap metal..." Yamur scoffed as he walked towards the corner of the shack that had been designated as the kitchen just the last week.

"Worst steward in history…" He mumbled as he attempted to reach for some food only to have his hand smacked away.

"If you're looking for a snack, the answer is 'No'." Danilief stood in between Yamur and the chest full of food.

"I saw you take half the rations earlier today."

"And you probably want to take the other half." Hiephon said as he sat down on the one bench near the fireplace that had no chimney and therefore no use.

He leaned over just in time to avoid a punch from Danilief.

"Nice punch…" Aloiveli said as she observed the broken wooden wall.

 _Status Corner: Danilief Round-Feet, Nord, 20 Years Old, Female, Class: Barbarian, Likes: Food, Dislikes: Girly things, Quirk: Can't sit still for too long_

"Speaking of nice punches…" Danilief said as she walked over to Detelvin, who was trying to write a flyer and groom himself using a puddle as a mirror at the same time.

"You should have seen the smackdown the two of us gave Findor and Kisesma in the marketplace!"

"It was the shortest brawl _I've_ ever been in…" Detelvin said, giving Danilief further credit.

"You went into the town again?" Ellevhis said, disappointed. "Why can't whoever stays behind actually use that giant pile of wood and some tools to start repairing this shed?"

She pointed to the giant pile of wooden planks and couple of tool boxes sitting right outside the burned down shed.

"It would be _nice_ to have a _ceiling_ for once."

"Yeah, the royal lady needs her ceiling." Domasur joked as he practiced swinging his Scimitar against a practiced dummy.

"I am one of _very few_ Snow Elves still sentient and in existence! I _at least_ deserve a ceiling. It's a basic right."

"You know, for a Snow Elf, you sure do have a problem with snow…" Domasur noted. "You're always telling Hiephon and me to shovel the snow that falls around the guild hall."

"Pffft." Detelvin started to laugh.

"He called this place a guild hall…"

"It's our base of operations, isn't it?" Domasur asked. "That makes it our guild hall."

 _Status Corner: Domasur, Redguard, 30 Years Old, Male, Class: Scout, Likes: Adventure, Dislikes; Books and Poetry, Quirk: Ambitious_

"Then I assume you'd want to take _better care of it_." Ellevhis huffed.

"Listen Gramma-" Domasur began.

"I am only 802 years of age!" Ellevhis began. "I was born a refugee, and I've spent centuries in hiding. In maturity I'm no farther along than _she_ is!"

Ellevhis pointed to Aloiveli, who was sitting on the small counter just above the fireplace.

"I find that hard to believe…" Aloiveli smiled.

"Are you telling me that only just a few years ago, you became fer-"

A giant crash coming from behind the burnt down shed mercifully stopped Aloiveli from finishing her question.

"What in Malouch's Name was that?" Yamur asked as everyone crowded into the one room shed looked outside, through one of the many non-existent walls.

"My analysis believes it to be an Altmer and Argonian fighting each other with Destruction and Restoration Magic." Mchanac stated.

"Great." Danilief rolled her eyes.

"Carawe and Tereen-Majee are back."

"Give it up, Tereen…" Carawe said as both her hands began to generate flames.

"My Destruction magic has more power than you could ever hope to achieve in your lifetime."

"Maybe so…" Tereen-Majee replied as she raised a steel mace in her right hand, and her left hand began to glow.

"But _I_ am the superior warrior here!"

"What in Oblivion are you doing?" Hiephon asked angrily.

Carawe and Tereen-Majee both stopped what they were doing and looked at the group of their guildmates that had amassed outside.

"Um…" Tereen-Majee stated. "You see….It was all Carawe's idea. If you should be angry at anyone it should be her…I was just provoked, I swear it..."

 _Status Corner: Tereen-Majee, Argonian, 26 Years Old, Female, Class: Crusader, Likes: Drama, Dislikes: Philosophy, Quirk: Short Temper_

"Carawe…" Yamur said. "Do you not deny this?"

"Of course I don't!" Carawe said. "I specifically asked Tereen-Majee to train with me on our way back from Dawnstar! I don't understand why you all believe it to be a big deal that-"

"You could have _killed_ each other!" Danilief said, sternly.

Carawe's eyes narrowed.

 _Status Corner: Carawe Elsinoth, Altmer(High Elf), 1034 Years Old, Female, Class: Battlemage, Likes: Politics, Dislikes: Animals, Quirk: Loves Attention._

"I am Carawe Elsinoth, an Altmer who has lived for over a thousand years and still hasn't encountered a single wrinkle on her face. I have been practicing magic professionally since I turned 18, which gives me over one thousand years of study. How dare you accuse me of being sloppy enough that I might actually cause serious harm to a friend of mine."

"Welp." Detelvin said as he finished combing his hair.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way...can you guys all help me with my flyer? I'm trying to think of something that will really capture the attention of everyone that passes by."

"Who's going to pass by?" Hiephon asked.

"We're in _Skyrim_. Anyone passing by is bound to be a Nord, and while Danilief and Master Bedrig might be exeptional people, the Nords in general wouldn't like all these other races hanging out in a group like this."

"We get the odd mercenary occasionally." Domasur shrugged. "But for the most part, I agree with Hiephon. If we want to amass more members, we'll need to find a better way of reaching people who would want to join. And on a related note, we also need to expand our guild hall."

"It would already be expanded if a certain piece of _junk_ would do its job." Yamur spat in reference to Mchanac.

"I am not fond of heavy labor." Mchanac stated. "I have expressed numerous times that my role in this guild is to be a source of information on anything one might want to know. I am not built for labor. If you would like labor, tame a Spider Worker and bring _it_ back."

"Attitude all over the place today, huh…" Aloiveli said to Danilief.

"I hope Master brings Findor and Kisesma back soon." Danilief replied.

She put her hands on her stomach.

"They were supposed to hunt some meat for us…"

"This One hates having to always be on hunting duty…" Kisesma hissed as she retrieved some arrows from a shot down elk.

"Kisesma was trained to hunt dark magic users...not animals. Kisesma feels like her talents are not being taken as seriously as they should be..And they should all know about Kisesma's distaste for using her bow..."

 _Status Corner: Kisesma, Khajiit, 28 Years Old, Female, Class: Witchhunter, Likes: Knick-Knacks, Dislikes: Weapons, Quirk: Startles easily_

"Oh come now, Kisesma, it isn't all bad." Findor said as he crouched down and steadied his bow as he aimed for another elk, drinking from a stream.

"In fact…." He shot his arrow, downing the elk in one shot.

He ran to retrieve his arrow along with the rest of the elk.

"I'd say that I'm having the most fun when I'm running around with you, shooting arrows. You're the only other member of our guild besides me that's capable of archery."

"Hooray…" Kisesma said sarcastically. "Still though, This One supposed you _are_ better company the the Breton Bard."

"I'm wonderful company!" Findor boasted. "I listen to everything whomever I might be with is saying, and I attempt to follow their instructions exactly."

"Yes…" Kisesma hissed. "This One had forgotten, but remembers learning that you grew up in Valenwood under the Green Pact. You can rest easy. There are no such laws here."

 _Status Corner: Findor Pinethorn, Bosmer (Wood Elf), 19 Years Old, Class: Archer, Likes: Jokes and Pranks, Dislikes: Romance, Quirk: Likes Strange Foods_

"And I am thankful for that." Findor nodded.

Kisesma and Findor added their newly gained elk meat to the cart that they had brought.

"This should be enough for the week…" Findor said, looking over the amount of venison.

"Then we should head back quickly." Kisesma said. "You start heading back. This one will wake up the Master."

She pointed to a sleeping Bedrig the Fearless.

"Bedrig the Pillowless." Findor smiled as he began to head back with the cart.

"Master…" Kisesma said.

"Master…it's time to wake up and head back to the guild hall, Master."

"Rrrrrmmmmnnn. I am currently in honorable combat with the grass, Kisesma. You run along and tell the others that I'll be there shortly."

"Master-"

"Go!" Bedrig ordered. "Or I'll yank your tail out."

Kisesma sighed and caught up to Findor to help with the carriage.

 _Status Corner: Bedrig The Fearless, Nord, 58 Years Old, Male, Class: Pilgrim, Likes; Hard Work, Dislikes: Debate, Quirk: Suffers From Narcolepsy_

As the guild members of Battlestar reconvened in their tiny shack with no roof nor upper walls, right next to enough would to create both, Kisesma told everyone about Bedrig's nap.

"Again?" everyone asked in unison.

"I must say." Mchanac said as he paced back and forth. "Master sure does let me down sometimes. Today is not a prudent day to take a nap, much less one out in the fields, not when there is work to be done on the building."

"Work that you could do yourself…" Domasur muttered.

"Work that _you_ could also do…" Ellevhis sighed quietly.

As everyone began to argue with each other, further delaying the fixing of the building that no one wanted to do,

the sound of four tiny footsteps approached the building.

It was a pair of two Nord children. A brother and a sister, possibly twins, they weren't certain, but the brother carried the air of an older sibling around with him.

"Vunmi, are you sure that this is the right place?" Horsi asked him.

"Yes, Horsi…" Vunmi replied. "A burned down shack, southwest of whiterun. This _has_ to be the right place."

"I'm hungry…" Horsi said. "How many Honey Nut Treats are left in our bag?"

"Our last two…" Vunmi looked into the bag. "Here, you can have both of them."

"No!" Horsi shook her head. "You have to have one too Vunmi, remember? We split it equally!"

Vunmi nodded and turned towards the arguing group of mercenaries.

"U-um...excuse me?" He asked, trying not to sound intimidated by all the adults there.

No one answered.

"Excuse me?" He tried again.

Mchanac noticed the Vunmi and Horsi standing in the doorway.

He slowly walked up to them while everyone else argued.

"Dw-dwarven automation!" Horsi began to hide behind Vunmi.

"Relax. My programming does not include any desire for manual labor. it would be too much work to attack either of you." Mchanac said in a friendly tone.

"Wow…" Vunmi said. "Somehow, that doesn't make us feel any better…"

Mchanac looked over at the arguing mercenaries.

"If you want to get their attention…" He said. "You should probably knock, right here."

He pointed to a wooden pole that looked like it had been knocked on plenty of times before.

Vunmi stared into space for a little while.

"Wait, really?" he asked, in disbelief.

"Affirmative." Mchanac nodded.

Vunmi looked at Horsi.

"Wait here okay? If anything bad happens to me, run away. Head towards the city and ask for help."

Horsi gave a small and frightened nod.

Vunmi began knocking on the piece of wood.

Instantly everyone inside the broken shack stopped arguing and stared at the small Nord child knocking on the wall of their shed.

"You gonna get that, Scrap Metal?" Yamur asked Mchanac.

"I am not programmed for such heavy manual labor as answering a door." Mchanac said.

"It might be the Master…" Domasur said. "Would you defy the Master, Mchanac?"

Everyone began arguing with each other again.

Vunmi gulped and walked into the shed.

"Excuse me!" He shouted.

Everyone went silent and stared at Vunmi.

"Is that your kid, Danilief?" Hiephon asked.

"I'm younger than _you!_ What makes you think I'd settle down and have a kid as old as he is?" Danilief asked.

"Well, then is he the Master's kid?"

"The Master doesn't have a Nord wife though…" Detelvin said. "He married a Breton woman remember?"

"Does anyone here have a Nord wife? Or possibly Nord life partner?" Hiephon asked loudly. "There's a little boy here, unsupervised!"

"I'm looking for Burningstar…" Vunmi said.

He motioned for Horsi to enter.

As she did, everyone gasped.

"Another one?" Yamur stood up. "Are we infested with these things?"

"Maybe…" Aloiveli smirked in a joking manner.

Findor began to laugh.

"They were probably attracted by the sweets you've been stealing and stashing away, Yamur."

"Don't be absurd." Yamur said. "They're hidden up where no child could rea- _hey_!"

Aloiveli was climbing what used to be a chimney and reaching for a sweetroll.

"This is the _only_ spot that a child wouldn't be able to reach in here." She said.

She took a bite out of the sweetroll and offered some of it to Hiephon.

"Want some?"

Hiephon took a chunk off of it and put it in his mouth.

"Kinda stale…" He said. "How long has that been there?"

"Last Loredas…" Tereen-Majee said.

"And you didn't say anything?" Domasur asked.

"I didn't know what he was doing!" Tereen defended herself. "I thought it was just some silly Orcish thing, get off my scales!"

"So…" Vunmi chimed in. "Is this Burningstar or not?"

"Yes, this is Burningstar, little ones…" Ellevhis said as she stood up. "If you're looking for our guildmaster, he's currently sleeping in the middle of nowhere at the moment, but you're welcome to wait until he returns."

"So...you guys take on any job right?" Vunmi asked again. "No matter what it is or what the payload is?"

"As long as there is one…" Carawe nodded.

"Do you have a job request, little ones?" Ellevhis asked.

Vunmi and Horsi looked at each other.

"We have two actually." Vunmi said. "I have one, and so does Horsi."

Horsi nodded.

"Well, we don't need the guildmaster here for _that_." Ellevhis smiled. "I'd be happy to help process your requests. Let's start with you, little lady…What is your request?"

"I...I'm Horsi Heart-Versed." Horsi said. "I-I...I want to….become an ….n…."

"Excuse me?" Ellevhis asked. "I didn't quite catch that. Would you mind whispering that into my ear so I can hear clearly?"

Horsi leaned up to whisper in a crouched Ellevhis's ear.

"I want to become an Assassin." She whispered.

"Oh…" Ellevhis said, standing up and backing away. "Well, we don't have anyone trained in that particular field, but we'll do our best to teach you...May I ask why exactly?"

"Because there's someone I really want to kill…" Horsi said, nervously, as though she wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. "And Vunmi says I'm not allowed to do any killing unless its my profession so-"

"And what about you?" Ellevhis asked Vunmi "do you want to be an assassin too?"

"No." Vunmi said.

"My name is Vunmi Heart-Versed, and I want to be a Mage."

"Well, out of all of us here, we can teach you every type of magic as well as Alchemy and Enchanting…" Ellevhis said, looking around. "But that's a very different profession than your sister."

"Yes, it is…" Vunmi said. "But I want to learn as much about magic as I can."

"That's not something you hear a Nord say very often." Carawe said as she snatched the stale sweetroll from Aloiveli and threw it out into the plains.

"Why do you want to learn so much about magic?"

"It's because there is someone I want to marry one day." Vunmi said, blushing.

"But she's only allowed to hang out with people who use magic now."

"Well, I've think I've heard enough." Bedrig the Fearless appeared in the broken building.

He looked over at the wooden pile.

"I guess, I'll start fixing it then." He said.

"Welcome to Burningstar, you two." He waved to the children.

"Your first jobs will be tomorrow, so get some sleep."

"No we don't want to _join_ …" Vunmi said. "We want you to _train_ us-"

"Boy, we only _train_ members of the guild." Bedrig said, towering over Vunmi.

"Now you can either join the guild, and get trained for free, or you can go and look for someone else to help you, but since you came _here_ , my professional guess is that you've already tried everywhere else."

Vunmi gulped.

This man was right.

"Now…" Bedrig yawned as he began to rest on the wood he was orignally going to put the shed back together with.

"Let's all get some sleep."


End file.
